Approximately 5 million English Language Learner (ELL) students are enrolled in K-12 public schools throughout the United States, representing nearly 10 percent of all students. These fact sheets, drawing upon data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey and the Department of Education, examine the geographic distribution and top languages spoken by these students nationally and by state.

Using previously non-public refugee admissions data from the State Department, this analysis finds that even as refugees come to the United States from increasingly diverse origins and linguistic backgrounds, some arriving with very low native-language literacy and education, most integrate successfully over time. The report examines refugees' employment, English proficiency, educational attainment, income and poverty status, and public benefits usage.

With the young child population in the United States rapidly becoming more diverse, the cultural and linguistic competencies of the early childhood education and care workforce (ECEC) are more important than ever. This report aims to fill gaps in knowledge of immigrants and refugees in the ECEC workforce and provides recommendations for strengthening workforce quality to better serve all children.

In 2013 the Houston metro area was home to 1.4 million immigrants—with the nearly 60 percent growth in its immigrant population since 2000 nearly twice the national rate. This report provides an overview of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Houston's immigrants, along with their naturalization rates, legal status, and potential eligibility for immigration benefits such as citizenship or deferred action programs.

The recently created White House Task Force on New Americans in April 2015 submitted a National Integration Plan to President Obama, offering recommendations for federal actions to further immigrant integration. Proposals made to the Task Force by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy and others to support immigrants' linguistic, economic, and civic integration are collected here, as are other resources.

Immigrant adults in the United States lag their native-born peers in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills, with resulting effects on their income, employment, education, and health, according to MPI analysis of U.S. scores on the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The findings, which reveal wide ethnic and racial gaps in scoring, underscore deep U.S. social inequalities.

The English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center provides informative fact sheets, maps, and state-level data resources that chronicle the demography and trends of immigrant families and their children.

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This panel discussion provided a brief overview of Mexican immigrants in the U.S., the role and function of Mexican consular officials in aiding this population, and reviewed the structure and foci of the Mexican government's Institute of Mexicans Abroad.

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Recent Activity

This report analyzes prenatal behaviors and birth outcomes of Black immigrant mothers, and finds that Black immigrant mothers are less likely to give birth to preterm or low-birth-weight infants than U.S.-born Black women, but more likely to experience these birth outcomes than other immigrant and U.S.-born women.

This report examines the role of naturalization as indicator and facilitator of successful integration in the United States. It examines why immigrants decide to naturalize and why many of those eligible to naturalize are unable or choose not to do so.

Join MPI as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses the application process and policies that the agency has announced to implement the administration’s deferred action program.

This fact sheet provides an estimate of the number of DREAMers—unauthorized immigrants potentially eligible for a two-year reprieve from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative—based on eligibility criteria outlined by the Department of Homeland Security. It also offers a detailed analysis of the demographic characteristics of prospective beneficiaries.

MPI is pleased to host a discussion with experts from both KIND and the Women’s Refugee Commission, focusing on the causes of the increase in unaccompanied minor migrants, the situation these minors face once detained or apprehended, and the challenges confronting both nongovernmental organizations trying to provide aid and the U.S. government agencies responsible for processing minors through the system.

This MPI webinar features U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials discussing the department’s efforts to improve communications with Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities in federal and federally-funded programs and activities.

This report provides a comprehensive profile of the immigrant population in Napa County, CA. It examines the effect of immigration on the county’s demographic trends and calculates the economic contributions of immigrants as well as their impact on government revenues and expenditures.

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About the Program

The National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy is a crossroads for elected officials, researchers, state and local agency managers, grassroots leaders, service providers, and others who seek to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities today’s high rates of immigration create in local communities. More here.

In the Spotlight

Want to learn more about immigrants to the United States from Mexico, India, Canada, or many other countries? Spotlights from MPI's online journal, the Migration Information Source, use the latest data to provide information on size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics of particular immigrant groups, including English proficiency, educational and professional attainment, income and poverty, health coverage, and remittances.

Want the latest facts and data on immigrants in the United States? Search U.S. Census data on U.S. immigrants and the native born nationally and by state based on demographic, language and education, workforce, and income indicators.

Resources

There are 1.3 million children in Black immigrant families in the United States, most with parents from Africa and the Caribbean. To address an important gap in knowledge about this rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population, this National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy project examines the well-being and development of children in Black immigrant families in the first decade of life.

Media Resources

Experts

Margie McHugh is Director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. Full Bio >

Michael Fix is President of the Migration Policy Institute.
Full Bio >